Union can't finish in loss to Fire

By MATTHEW De GEORGE, 21st Century Media

Sunday, August 4, 2013

CHESTER — The story of the 2013 MLS season may just be Mike Magee.

After a consistent, if unremarkable, decade in the league, Magee has blossomed into an All-Star. Should the Chicago Fire continue its climb up the standings, you may add MVP to that list as well. And Saturday, against a sub-par Philadelphia Union side, Magee’s efforts were on full display.

The striker showed why he is one of MLS’s best, roofing a shot in the 75th minute for the game-winner as the Fire topped the Union, 2-1, Saturday night at PPL Park.

With the Union dominating play 15 minutes after getting an equalizer from Sheanon Williams, Patrick Nyarko capitalized on a turnover by newly-inserted midfielder Leo Fernandes, finding Magee in space. The striker provided a deft finish, firing a laser into the top corner over a sprawling Zac MacMath to give the Fire a lead they never relinquished.

The Union squandered a bevy of chances and should’ve had more than Williams’ goal, which pegged back Nyarko’s 14th-minute opener.

But given the inability to finish, it was a just result for the Union (9-7-7, 34 points) after a display that manager John Hackworth made clear wasn’t up to snuff.

“Not our best night in any way, shape or form,” Hackworth said. “We started off poorly. We got back in the game a little bit. But big picture, that’s not the soccer we want to play. Disappointed, felt like we deserved more out of it, but performance wise, we have to play better.”

Making things all the more painful were the stakes of the match. With the Fire (8-9-4, 28 points) recovering from its slow start with a torrid two months, the logjam in MLS’ Eastern Conference has been exacerbated. The Union hold onto fourth, but their first home defeat since May 14 means they missed a chance to move within a point of East-leading New York. The Fire, just 10 points off the pace set by the Red Bulls, sit in seventh in a crowded field.

“I think this is a huge missed opportunity,” Hackworth said. “We knew Chicago was going to come in and give us a really good game. They’ve been a really good team the last two months, so it was never going to be easy. But to go down a goal, to get one back, we felt like we had our foot on the gas a little bit and had opportunity after opportunity. And to give one up the way we did was unfortunate.”

For Magee, it’s his 14th goal of the season, the most in MLS. He’d never scored more than 10 in any of his previous 10 campaigns before 2013.

Magee has had eight goals and two assists in 10 games since he came to Chicago in a trade with Los Angeles for the rights to Robbie Rogers. It’s no coincidence that the Fire are the league’s hottest team in that stretch, thanks in large part to the poaching instincts of their No. 9.

“The season that he’s having, it seems like every time he puts himself in a good position, he scores,” Williams said. “It’s pretty unbelievable what he’s doing. Unlucky for us that he finished one today.”

For all the chances they created, it took a fluky situation for the Union to even get on the board.

Off a free kick drawn by Jack McInerney, being leaned on too hard by former Union defender Bakary Soumare, Sebastien Le Toux’s in-swinging delivery was headed by Williams. He didn’t make solid contact with the ball, but as the defender was rolling on the ground in the scrum in front of goal, he swung his leg over and caught the ball with his heel, bundling it past Chicago goalkeeper Sean Johnson.

“I just got to a good spot, and I was just lucky to get enough on it to get it into the goal,” Williams said of his second goal of the season. The assist is Le Toux’s MLS-leading 10th.

The Union failed to capitalize on a number of second-half chances as they finally swung the game in their favor after a lackluster first.

They should’ve equalized just minutes into the second half when Conor Casey’s shot left Johnson rooted to his spot but just dribbled past the post. Johnson kicked out nine minutes later when Fabinho, a halftime sub for the injured Ray Gaddis (ankle), played Le Toux into space. Johnson was up to the task of the sharp-angled drive.

The Union had a hectic stretch from the 65th to 67th minutes in which they earned four straight corner kicks. Johnson made a big save, stretching his left hand to deny Amobi Okugo’s strong header on the second. It was Jeff Parke’s turn on the ensuing chance, his drive stopped by midfielder Alex on the line.

In the 84th, McInerney found space and time to turn in the box, but Soumare and Gonzalo Segares combined for a sliding block of his shot.

The Union fired 19 attempts on goal, four of them saved by Johnson, who was playing his first game for the Fire after five weeks with the U.S. National Team at the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Magee played a more passive role in the Fire’s opening goal. A Michael Farfan turnover in midfield created space for Joel Lindpere down the left wing. With Magee occupying defenders near the penalty spot with his dummy run, Nyarko pounced and sent a volley across the face of MacMath’s goal that the keeper had no chance on. It was the first goal allowed in 265 minutes of MLS play by the Union.